It is well known in automotive vehicle body construction to provide a front end and a body on a vehicle frame. The front end typically has a longitudinally extending member, or shotgun, for attaching to a forward corner, or pillar section of the body. This front end-to-body joint typically includes a hinge reinforcement member on an interior side of the body to provide reinforcement for the door hinges, which are typically at, or near, the joint.
In past construction, the shotgun has been positioned laterally outward of the body side longitudinally forward of the door hinges, which may leave a discontinuity therebetween. Such a construction typically requires an expensive, complicated front edge to be stamped on the body side member.
Some body-on-frame constructions, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,840 (Itoh), employ a panel 18 located adjacent the engine and a suspension member 20 supporting a strut type suspension unit, and tied into the dash panel 12. This construction requires a stay member 24 to provide adequate support between the pillar 14 and the front end.
In other front end constructions, such as in a unibody vehicle, front end support is achieved by tying the dash panel and/or cowl member into the strut towers, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,978 (Wessells) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,662 (Kudo). Such construction is not feasible or desirable in a conventional body-on-frame vehicle.
There is thus needed a front end-to-body joint construction which provides effective transfer of loads into the vehicle body under lateral loading conditions and yet which does not increase manufacturing costs or complexity.